Street gutter drainage grille



y 1953 s. P. BROUSSARD ETAL 5,3

I STREET CUTTER DRAINAGE GRILLE Filed Nov. 1, 1950 2 Sheet s-Sheet 1 E K; 3241.... I

p/z L"M9 I INVENTORS /arzn Ffiroussa rd 5 sard A'TTU RN EYS Patented July 14, 1953 STREET GUTTER DRAINAGE GRILLE Slavin P. Broussard and Gordon R; Broussard, New Iberia, La.

Application November 1,1950, Serial No. 193,332

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to drains, sewers, and

the like particularly as used at street corners and at the edges of sidewalksfor the purpose of taking off excess water, and in particular a grill having a plurality of pivotally mounted blades actuated by a water wheel therein for efficiently carrying oif leaves and other refuse accumulating over the conventional sewer grill with unusually heavy rainfall.

The purpose of this invention is to providemeans in a drain or sewer for relieving congested grills where leaves and the like accumulate too rapidly to be carriedaway with the usual functioning-of the drain.

In numerous instances property'is damaged by overflowing water resulting from accumulations of leaves ongrills of street sewers anddrains and the average street cleaning force of a city is not sufficient to relieve these conditions. With this thought injmind this invention contemplates a street sewer or drain having actuating elements therein and water wheels positioned to be rotated by water flowing through the drain for operating the actuating elements whereby the continuous movement of the actuating elements breaks up the accumulation ofthe leaves sufliciently for the leaves to pass through the drain.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide means-for incorporating constantly moving elements in a sewer or, drain with the eler ments actuated by water, flowing through the sewer or drain whereby accumulations of leaves, refuse, and the like are mechanically worked through the sewer or drain.

Another object of the invention is to provide mechanically operating elements in a street sewer or drain that are automatically operated by water flowing through the sewer or drain.

A further object of the invention is to provide a grill for street sewers or drains having water actuated elements therein for relieving congestions of leaves and the like, which is of a comparatively simple and economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies a grill having a substantially rectangular shaped housing with a cover having openings therethrough and with water wheel actuated pivotally mounted blades below the cover and positioned to work leaves and other substantially solid matter carried by water passing therethrough through the grill.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view showing the cover of the grill with, the operating parts shown in. dotted.

lines.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the grill taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a cross section through the grill taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 with the parts shown on an enlarged scale.

Figure 4 is a detail showing a section similar to. that shown inv Fig. 2 and also with the parts shown on an enlarged scale and illustrating the crank at one end of thewater wheel and the connection of the crank to the pivotally' mounted blades.

Figure 5 is a detailshowing a sectional plan through the upper part of the grill showing the connections at the ends of, the blades with parts of the blades broken away and with the. mounting elements omitted.

Referring now to the. drawings wherein like referencecharacters-denote corresponding, parts the improved self-cleaning drain grill of this invention includesa rectangular shaped housing. having side; walls l0 and II, end walls l2 and i3, acoven plate M, mounted on an enlarged section at the upper end of the housing, a plurality oipivotally mounted blades lBvand l1, and water wheels [8 and i9 which are connected to the bladesby rods 201 and 21..

In, the design shown the housing is positioned; in an opening 22 in the ground or in a gutter or street as indicated by the numeral 23v and the:

cover plate- [4, which is provided with, spaced openings 24, is secured to lugs 25 extended around the upper edge of the section l5 by bolts 26.

The blades l6 and H, which are preferably S-sha-ped in cross section, are carried by transversely disposed shafts 21 and 28 which extend through openings in the side walls I0 and II of the housing and are journaled by bearings 29 in cup shaped sections 30 and 3| on the outer surfaces of the side walls of the housing, as shown in Fig. 3. Washers 32 may be provided between the ends of the blades and inner surfaces of the walls of the housing, as shown.

The lower edges of the blades I6 are pivotally connected at the points 33 to a rod 34 and one end of the rod 34 is pivotally connected to the rod 20. The lower edges of the blades I I are similarly connected to the rod 35 which is pivotally connected to the rod 2 I.

The rods 20 and 2! are pivotally connected to cranks 36 and 31 on the ends of the shafts 38 and 39, of the water Wheels l8 and I9, respectively, the shafts being journaled, at one end with bearings 40 of cup shaped members 4| on the side plates l0, and at their opposite ends in bearings 42 in arms 43 and 44, respectively, ex-

7 may be provided with lubricant circulating tubes 50 and 5! and the water wheels may be provided with hoops or guards 52 to prevent damaging the vanes or buckets thereof.

With the parts arranged in this manner the grill housing of this type may be inserted in street gutters or at other low points where it is desired to rapidly drain off surplus water and as leaves accumulate in the grill the continuously operating blades break up the accumulation and work the leaves through the housing.

The grills may be formed in sections and the blades actuated by one or two water wheels and Where two sets of blades and wheels are provided as illustrated in Figure 2 a dividing blade is provided, as indicated by the numeral 53. It will also be understood that any suitable number of blades or sets of blades and water wheels may be used in combination.

It will be understood that other modifications may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts'without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a street gutter sewer or drain, the combination which comprises a substantially open vertically disposed housing having an enlarged upper end, a cover plate having openings therethrough mounted on the upper end of the housing, transversely disposed blades pivotally mounted in the housing, rods connecting the blades, Water Wheels journaled in the housing and having eccentric arms extended therefrom, and rods connecting the eccentric arms of the water wheels to the rods connected to the said blades whereby rotation of the water wheels by water passing 7 through the housing actuates the blades.

2. In a street gutter sewer or drain, the combination which comprises a substantially open vertically disposed housing having an enlarged upper end, a cover plate having openings therethrough mounted on the upper end of the housing, transversely disposed blades pivotally mounted in the housing at points substantially midway of the width thereof, rods pivotally mounted on the edges of the blades for connecting the blades,

' water wheels journaled in the housin and having eccentric arms extended therefrom, and rods connecting the eccentric arms of the water Wheels to the rods connected to the said blades 'wh'ereby rotation of the Water wheels by water passing through the housing actuates the blades.

,3. In a street gutter sewer or drain, the combination which comprises a substantially open vertically disposed housing havingan enlarged upper end, a cover plate having openings there- 'through mounted on the upper end of the housing, transversely disposed blades pivotally mounted in the housing at points substantially midway of the width of the blades, said blades being substantially S-shaped in cross section, rods pivotally connected to edges of the blades, water wheels journaled in the housing, positioned at' References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 664,833 Collins Jan. 1, 1901 1,081,497 Goetz Dec. 16, 1913 2,117,887 Holland May 17, 1938 2,473,279 Crocker June 14, 1949 2,485,547 Blau Oct. 25, 1949 V FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Norway Aug. 16, 1920 

